Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores
This study presents simulations of Greenland surface melt for the Eemian interglacial period (∼130 000 to 115 000 years ago) derived from regional climate simulations with a coupled surface energy balance model. Surface melt is of high relevance due to its potential effect on ice core observations,...
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ftunivbergen:oai:bora.uib.no:11250/2762505 2023-05-15T16:03:05+02:00 Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores Plach, Andreas Vinther, Bo M. Nisancioglu, Kerim Hestnes Vudayagiri, Sindhu Blunier, Thomas 2021 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2762505 https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-317-2021 eng eng Copernicus Publications https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/17/317/2021/ Norges forskningsråd: 246929 Notur/NorStore: NN4659K EC/FP7/610055 urn:issn:1814-9324 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2762505 https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-317-2021 cristin:1885842 Climate of the Past. 2021, 17, 317–330 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no Copyright 2021 The Authors Climate of the Past 17 1 317-330 Journal article Peer reviewed 2021 ftunivbergen https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-317-2021 2023-03-14T17:41:59Z This study presents simulations of Greenland surface melt for the Eemian interglacial period (∼130 000 to 115 000 years ago) derived from regional climate simulations with a coupled surface energy balance model. Surface melt is of high relevance due to its potential effect on ice core observations, e.g., lowering the preserved total air content (TAC) used to infer past surface elevation. An investigation of surface melt is particularly interesting for warm periods with high surface melt, such as the Eemian interglacial period. Furthermore, Eemian ice is the deepest and most compressed ice preserved on Greenland, resulting in our inability to identify melt layers visually. Therefore, simulating Eemian melt rates and associated melt layers is beneficial to improve the reconstruction of past surface elevation. Estimated TAC, based on simulated melt during the Eemian, could explain the lower TAC observations. The simulations show Eemian surface melt at all deep Greenland ice core locations and an average of up to ∼30 melt days per year at Dye-3, corresponding to more than 600 mm water equivalent (w.e.) of annual melt. For higher ice sheet locations, between 60 and 150 mmw.e.yr−1 on average are simulated. At the summit of Greenland, this yields a refreezing ratio of more than 25 % of the annual accumulation. As a consequence, high melt rates during warm periods should be considered when interpreting Greenland TAC fluctuations as surface elevation changes. In addition to estimating the influence of melt on past TAC in ice cores, the simulated surface melt could potentially be used to identify coring locations where Greenland ice is best preserved. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Dye 3 Dye-3 Greenland Greenland ice core ice core Ice Sheet University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) Greenland Tac ENVELOPE(-59.517,-59.517,-62.500,-62.500) Climate of the Past 17 1 317 330 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivbergen |
language |
English |
description |
This study presents simulations of Greenland surface melt for the Eemian interglacial period (∼130 000 to 115 000 years ago) derived from regional climate simulations with a coupled surface energy balance model. Surface melt is of high relevance due to its potential effect on ice core observations, e.g., lowering the preserved total air content (TAC) used to infer past surface elevation. An investigation of surface melt is particularly interesting for warm periods with high surface melt, such as the Eemian interglacial period. Furthermore, Eemian ice is the deepest and most compressed ice preserved on Greenland, resulting in our inability to identify melt layers visually. Therefore, simulating Eemian melt rates and associated melt layers is beneficial to improve the reconstruction of past surface elevation. Estimated TAC, based on simulated melt during the Eemian, could explain the lower TAC observations. The simulations show Eemian surface melt at all deep Greenland ice core locations and an average of up to ∼30 melt days per year at Dye-3, corresponding to more than 600 mm water equivalent (w.e.) of annual melt. For higher ice sheet locations, between 60 and 150 mmw.e.yr−1 on average are simulated. At the summit of Greenland, this yields a refreezing ratio of more than 25 % of the annual accumulation. As a consequence, high melt rates during warm periods should be considered when interpreting Greenland TAC fluctuations as surface elevation changes. In addition to estimating the influence of melt on past TAC in ice cores, the simulated surface melt could potentially be used to identify coring locations where Greenland ice is best preserved. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Plach, Andreas Vinther, Bo M. Nisancioglu, Kerim Hestnes Vudayagiri, Sindhu Blunier, Thomas |
spellingShingle |
Plach, Andreas Vinther, Bo M. Nisancioglu, Kerim Hestnes Vudayagiri, Sindhu Blunier, Thomas Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores |
author_facet |
Plach, Andreas Vinther, Bo M. Nisancioglu, Kerim Hestnes Vudayagiri, Sindhu Blunier, Thomas |
author_sort |
Plach, Andreas |
title |
Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores |
title_short |
Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores |
title_full |
Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores |
title_fullStr |
Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores |
title_full_unstemmed |
Greenland climate simulations show high Eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores |
title_sort |
greenland climate simulations show high eemian surface melt which could explain reduced total air content in ice cores |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2762505 https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-317-2021 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-59.517,-59.517,-62.500,-62.500) |
geographic |
Greenland Tac |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Tac |
genre |
Dye 3 Dye-3 Greenland Greenland ice core ice core Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
Dye 3 Dye-3 Greenland Greenland ice core ice core Ice Sheet |
op_source |
Climate of the Past 17 1 317-330 |
op_relation |
https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/17/317/2021/ Norges forskningsråd: 246929 Notur/NorStore: NN4659K EC/FP7/610055 urn:issn:1814-9324 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2762505 https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-317-2021 cristin:1885842 Climate of the Past. 2021, 17, 317–330 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no Copyright 2021 The Authors |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-317-2021 |
container_title |
Climate of the Past |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
317 |
op_container_end_page |
330 |
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1766398724111597568 |